This album reunites Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks, Todd Phillips, Jerry Douglas, and Vassar Clements for another round of classic bluegrass played the way they learned it from, and in the case of Hicks and Clements, performed it with, the originators. This time, following the tradition of Flatt & Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Banjo and Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Instrumentals, the musicians step forward to show off their considerable instrumental virtuosity. Like the albums before it, this is a masters' course in how a classic bluegrass band should sound. Everything required is here -- timing, tone, touch, taste and technique -- yet there is no clutter, no wasted motion or unnecessary sound. The musicians challenge and dare one another, but with no evidence of competitiveness; they work in harmony without loss of individuality. The yield is exquisite band dynamics -- fine, subtle, natural, and above all, musical. They make it seem easy, but obviously it isn't, or every bluegrass band in the world would sound this great.' --Frank Godbey